Fertility week: Emergency caesarean and IVF followed by two 'beautiful' babies

Rachel and Gareth Phelps, with Zach (now 22 months old) and Ava (7). Photo / Nadine Canestri Photography

Rachel Phelps is mum to two happy healthy kids, but looking back on an eight-year fight for her family, she says she's not brave enough to go through it a third time.

"I won, but I felt like a wounded soldier," she says.

Rachel, now 35, recalls her first bout of severe stomach pain when on her honeymoon with her husband Gareth, back in 2006.

The pain, which she initially assumes was caused by Irritable Bowel Syndrome, didn't go away and she wound up taking some time off work.

Newlyweds at 23, a family wasn't at the top Rachel or Gareth's priorities. Despite this, she says it was always part of the long-term plan - she wants three kids and Gareth wants four.

Rachel says they started trying for a baby in 2008; she has been suffering from what will later be diagnosed as endometriosis, for around 2 years.

After a year of trying naturally, and a handful of visits to bowel experts the pair were referred to a fertility specialist. Rachel was quizzed about her symptoms, and the specialist gave the bad news about her condition.

Tests for endometriosis came back positive and next thing, Rachel was on the public waiting list for a removal procedure.

A year on, Rachel had the operation, which the pair describe as a lifesaver for her health. And only months after the procedure, she fell pregnant with her first child, Ava.

Rachel describes that news as as "amazing".

"It was just like a dream," she says.

"It had been 2 and a half years waiting for this child, and then after our massive journey to get to that point… we were ecstatic."

A fairly straightforward pregnancy was followed by a nightmare birth. Ava was born through emergency caesarean which followed a long labour and falling heartbeat.

One year later, when Rachel was 30, the pair decide to try for baby number two. Six unsuccessful months on, the couple were back at Fertility Associates for further testing, fearing Rachel's endometriosis had come back.

Instead, it turned out the first operation had left scar tissue. Rachel had an operation to get rid of this, but it did nothing to help in her struggle to conceive.

She was prescribed fertility medicine called Clomiphene which was unsuccessful, as was IUI, or intrauterine insemination.

Eventually the couple went to IVF as their final option, and the began publicly funded treatment a year later.

While the IVF was successful, Rachel said the process was a challenge - filled with migraines, vertigo, bloating and mouth ulcers.

The birth was also dramatic - Rachel's epidural anaesthetic rose above her chest while she was in recovery, and she stopped breathing.

She was taken back into the operating theatre and put on oxygen while the doctors figured out what had gone wrong.

Almost two years on, Rachel has no regrets about the journey, which led to the birth of Ava, 7, and Zach, who is about to turn 2.

But it took a big toll on her health and her relationship with Gareth, she says.

"I don't think I am brave enough to do it all over again for round three."

Gareth says the way infertility can wear away at a couple's relationship is an aspect of the issue that isn't discussed enough.

"It is quite a heavy load to carry, newly married… and it can have quite major effects on the relationship.

He suggests there could be a place for support networks for infertility, to connect those struggling with those who have come out the other side.

"I think the best way to know how to get somewhere is to ask the people coming back," he says.